-Scroll.in Influenced by conservative vegetarian lobbies, most BJP-ruled states do not serve nutrition-laden eggs in school and Anganwadi menus. In her haunting short story Shishu (Little Ones), writer Mahashweta Devi depicts the cruelty of shrunk bodies deformed by acute hunger and starvation in Adivasi hamlets, due to chronic administrative apathy. Reminiscent of this dystopian parable, the recently released National Family Health Survey 2019-’20, for the FIRst time since the turn of the millennium...

Commenting on the recently released fifth round of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) data for 17 states and five Union Territories (UTs) in an article published in The Indian Express (dated 6th January, 2021), Arvind Subramanian and his co-authors have stated that India has made progress on certain outcomes, including infant mortality rate (IMR), under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and neonatal mortality rate (NNMR). Relying on various rounds of NFHS data,...

-The Indian Express Considering the critical importance of agriculture for livelihoods, health, food security, and also keeping in mind the vulnerability of Indian farmers, it is necessary to go beyond reductionist expediency in considering agricultural reforms. In his speech on December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the three controversial farm laws will finally deliver justice to the vast majority of small farmers who have been ignored by successive governments. As...

-Livemint.com Over 1.8 million vehicles were sold across India last month, 10 percent higher than December 2019, vehicle registration data suggests. This is the FIRst time during the pandemic that vehicle registration data has shown a year-on-year increase India’s economic recovery appears to have picked up pace over the past few weeks, led by the largest states of the country. All four high-frequency indicators of economic activity considered in Mint’s monthly state...

-The Hindu The gender gap in the agriculture sector will only widen more with the current farm laws Eminent agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan once said, “Some historians believe that it was women who FIRst domesticated crop plants and thereby initiated the art and science of farming. While men went out hunting in search of food, women started gathering seeds from the native flora and began cultivating those of interest from the point...